I want to talk to you about Alex Smith. I want to talk about a prank that’s crueler than anything that may have been pulled on Manti Te’o.

I think Alex is too good a teammate to write you himself, so on the Helix High graduate’s behalf, I feel compelled to tell you: Enough is enough.

What exactly did this guy do to you? Which one of your puppies did he accidentally strike with a spiral?

You’ve been toying with Smith since he crossed his T and dotted his I on his rookie contract, and if there is an empathetic bone in your bodies, the hazing needs to stop.

I can already feel you making that innocent “why, whatever do you mean?” face. Uh uh. The evidence is overwhelming. Care for me to review?

First, on draft night, you throw the guy to a 49ers team whose offensive line is about as rigid as a cotton swab. You know better than anyone that you can’t have productivity without protection. Look at Michael Vick with the Eagles this year. The most elusive quarterback in the game became a human piñata.

But I suppose it was OK to make Alex squirm a little at first. The No. 1 overall pick shouldn’t be able to just moonwalk to a Super Bowl. But did you really have to give him six different offensive coordinators? Did you have to separate his shoulder in September of his third season, only to have a wire from the surgery saw through the bone a year later?

Did you have to keep him from playing no more than 11 games for four straight seasons, solidifying his status as a bust while draft classmate Aaron Rodgers snagged a Super Bowl ring and M-V-P trophy?

I hope Smith has skin made of iron, because he’s doubled as a punching bag for players, coaches and media alike. Broadcaster Cris Collinsworth told the nation in 2006 that Jay Cutler, Vince Young and Matt Leinart were all superior QBs. Falcons receiver Roddy White once tweeted “Why are the 49ers wasting their time with Alex Smith?” And when Mike Singletary was fired as San Francisco’s head coach after the 2010 season, he said “you gotta have a quarterback.”

But then Jim Harbaugh replaced Singletary and showed that they did have a quarterback. In one season, San Francisco jumped from a 6-10 also-ran to a 13-3 juggernaut.

Did Smith saturate the stat sheet like Rodgers or Drew Brees? No. But playing for a franchise that has featured Joe Montana and Steve Young, he set club records for most game-winning drives in a season (6), most fourth-quarter comebacks in a season (6) and fewest interceptions in a season for a QB with 16 starts. (5).

I thought you guys were starting to come around on him. I even gave you a pass on Kyle Williams’ muff in the NFC championship game costing Smith a shot at the Super Bowl – especially since, through the first eight games of this season, Alex had the third highest passer rating in the league.

Smith wasn’t just along for the ride anymore, he was flooring the gas pedal. A Super Bowl seemed possible, and a Pro Bowl seemed probable. Then, Alex gets concussed against St. Louis, sits out the next game, and you dastards – you soulless oppressors – pull your cruelest trick yet.

Yeah, Harbaugh is the one that decided to make Colin Kaepernick the starting quarterback for the rest of the year, but he doesn’t deserve an iota of blame for that.

Kaepernick has been extraordinary and has emerged as the NFL’s human adrenaline rush. Skydivers and base-jumpers get their fix by watching him.

But are you telling me that San Francisco couldn’t just as easily be in this same position with Smith behind center? Do you really not think that Smith, who shined in the divisional playoff against New Orleans last year, isn’t equally capable?

I’m not sure what your motivation is. If it’s to needle Alex into ranting against his coaches or teammates a la Hope Solo in 2007, it ain’t gonna happen. Not in the man’s DNA.

I just hope you know the redemption that you are denying this man. Last week, it could have been Smith, not Kaepernick, who took down Rodgers – the man with whom he’ll be forever linked. And Sunday, he’ll have a chance to beat Atlanta and Roddy Smith, the man who blasted him in front of millions.

Truth is, Alex had a chance at a classic fairytale ending. But thanks to you, the fairytale ended.